Tag Archives: Self-direction

Enjoying the Holidays: A Guest Blog

Monday, 19 December 2016 18:00

Written by Bobbi C.

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Pat McGraw, a counselor at The Prevention Coalition – a recovery support organization based in Southern California – sent us a lovely e-mail filled links to helpful resources out there for any of you who may find yourselves feeling stressed out and/or struggling through this holiday season.

Please check our Pat’s guest post with those links included, and please – reach out to and keep in close contact with your support groups and friends in recovery. And feel free to contact us here at LifeRing anytime via e-mail at service@lifering.org.

Many thanks to Pat for sharing this information with all of us, and to all of you, we wish you safe, healthy, happy, and peaceful holidays.

Hello there,

While this is a joyful and busy time of the year for most, many people suffering from mental health issues or substance abuse disorder find the holidays to be a challenge.

As a counselor, I see a lot of my clients struggle with putting on a brave face during the winter holidays. For those in recovery, the parties and celebrations are rife with temptation (and explanation). For those suffering from depression and anxiety, the holidays can exacerbate feelings of despondence and agitation — which, unfortunately, can linger even after the holiday season is over.

In an effort to help those who are suffering find measures of comfort and reassurance, I have created a list of resources to share this list with your readers.

We wish Valerie, Matt, Raven, and all new meeting members our very best!

~~

Craig Whalley’s Success Story Featured On Eminent Potential!

Sunday, 30 October 2016 13:34

Written by Bobbi C.

4 Comments

Hey, everyone! Long time no see, huh?

Well, what can I tell you? I’ve gotten sucked into the all-things-Facebook vortex, that’s what. If you haven’t checked it out yet, we’re on Facebook, and guess who’s the “Page Manager”? (No, really. Guess! Haha)

I’m not complaining, really – I’ve gained a boatload of fun and valuable skills in the process – but like the good little raccoon I am (ooooohhhh, look! Something shiny! **Toddles off to make whatever it may be my very own**), I tend to get a little…distracted. And, as such, you fine folks end up neglected.

And so, here I am, asking for both your forgiveness (pretty please?) and your renewed attention to the latest important thing in the LifeRing universe, and it’s this:

Eminent Potential, a new website focused on pairing people with recovery coaches open to multiple pathways – yay!, has featured our own Craig Whalley’s recovery story on their Success Stories page, and so of course I want to share it with you!

On a personal note, I’d just like to say that if it weren’t for Craig getting sober – and starting up the LSR Safe e-mail group – I really have no idea where I’d be now. Maybe sober, but very likely not, and for that, he has my utmost respect, admiration, friendship, and love. Honestly, he has such a wealth of intelligence combined with staunch, and yet unusually gentle, supportiveness I started calling him “Yoda”after a while.

Anyway. Once again the blasted holidays (aka “Primary Excuses to Wreck Oneself If One Doesn’t First Check Oneself”) are coming up, so hold onto your lugnuts – it’s tiiiiiiiimmme for an overhaul!

See you again soon. 🙂

~~

An Invitation: Alternative Roads to Recovery Telesummit

Wednesday, 03 August 2016 14:15

Written by Bobbi C.

5 Comments

Hey, everyone. How’s it going? I hope you’re all well, but however you are, I’m glad you’re here. Honestly, and not because I’m about to tout something (‘cuz…I am), but because if you’re here, then it means you’re a seeker, someone open, someone dedicated to finding what works for you, and not afraid to use it!

Perhaps LifeRing’s it, perhaps it’s not quite it but just one piece of your recovery program, perhaps it’s still a puzzle you’re trying to put together – and that’s not a bad thing.

There’s been lots of talk lately about “multiple pathways to recovery”, and it’s been music to my ears. This wasn’t necessarily the case when I got started on my own journey – in fact, it took some real digging through the labyrinthine interwebs just to find LifeRing. At the time it seemed if it was that difficult, then it must be a dubious source of sobriety support. I waded in cautiously, but even then something about it just…felt…right. So I dove in headfirst, and I’ve never looked back.

Now I consider all the other folks who found LifeRing and other means of support such as (just to name a few) S.O.S., SMART Recovery, or Rational Recovery way earlier than I did as sources of not just personal inspiration but a testament to something else, something far more important: They were, and are, pioneers in addiction recovery. Living, breathing examples that what they’ve done, walking whatever path they’ve chosen, works for them. The fact that their lives – and the lives of their families, friends, co-workers, and society in general – were and are improved for the better is reason enough alone to prove those paths legit, and that that’s all that really matters.

Somewhere along the line other folks, both in and out of the greater recovery community, took notice and have come to the conclusion that this is OKto do. In fact, the concept has gotten so much attention and gained such unprecedented importance it’s now a movement, peopled by those deeply committed to saving as many lives as possible, who are open to the reality that people need all the help they can get, in any way that works for them.

One such person is a guy by the name of William White, a professional researcher with a Masters in Addiction Studies who’s worked in the addiction treatment and research fields since 1969 and was one of the first to get on board with the multiple pathways concept. (He’s also the author of a book some of you may have heard of – or even read – called “Slaying the Dragon – The History of Addiction and Recovery in America”.)

He also writes about all kinds of different things recovery-related on his blog, The William White Papers. In a recent post of his I found that he’s taken the concept even further, one that many of us have been living in our own recoveries for years now as well, and that’s of a recovery mosaic. A bright, colorful mishmash that’s not a “pathway” so much as as of little dabs of this and nice dollops of that, all melded together to create one beautiful, harmonious whole. It doesn’t necessarily mean just meetings or other mutual support aids anymore, either – it includes mindfulness practices, yoga, Buddhist teachings, hot wax therapies.

OK, not the hot wax, but anyhoo, you get the idea. And so…if you’re looking for ways to create, or expand, your own mosaic/pathway, I’m most happy to let you know that LifeRing will be participating in a 5-day telesummit coming up on August 15 – 19th. Hosted by Recovery Life Management’s Beverly Sartain, it’s called “Alternative Roads to Recovery”, and along with us several other recovery groups/resources will participate, such as:

SMART

Online Recovery Communities

HAMS (Harm-reduction, Abstinence, and Moderation Support)

Intuition in Recovery

Intensive Outpatient Programs

Medication-assisted Treatment

Mentorship in Recovery

Mindfulness Based Recovery

Says Beverly (from the ARR website):

Alternative Roads To Recovery encourages men and women to find a recovery practice that works for them. Very often, that recovery practice is made up of many different systems and support. I’ll share my own journey with alternatives that had me celebrating 10 years of recovery this year with no relapses, EVER!

And if you attend, I’d love to hear how it went (and even if you don’t, I love hearing from you anyway)!

🙂 Bobbi C.

~~

New LifeRing Meeting In Grand Rapids, Michigan!

Friday, 29 July 2016 18:09

Written by Bobbi C.

0 Comments

We’re pleased to announce a new LifeRing meeting will begin next Wednesday, August 3rd, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The meeting will be convened by Douglas Hulst, Director of Community Relationships at Recovery Allies, an organization committed to promoting “…long-term recovery from substance use disorders through Coaching, Educating and Training…resulting in healthier individuals, families, and communities.” They’re also strong proponents of multiple recovery pathways, and we’re thrilled to be aligned with them!